The Rules of Love
by BeyondtheSea
Summary: Shannon teaches us the Rules of Love. ShannonSayid. please read and review. Complete.
1. Rules 1 & 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost, or Sayid…sadly.

Summary: Shannon teaches us the 5 Rules of Love. Will only have 4 or 5 chapters.

AN: Thank You! To all that read and review.

The Rules of Love

By: Shannon Rutherford

A self-help book

Prologue

In the next four chapters I will tutor you on the etiquette of how to get the man you want. But in order to be successful in your attempts at getting the man you want, you must first understand Rule 1.

Rule 1: Follow each rule! Following each rule is vital in your journey to getting the man you want.

Chapter 1

Rule 2: When the object of your affections is nearby do not, and I repeat do NOT, blatantly ignore him. Catch his eye and give him a mysterious, but coy smile. This will let him know where you stand, making it easier for him to approach you.

'Focus on the water, focus on filling up the water bottle, don't look up, but don't look like your trying to ignore him, just look like your casually filling up your water bottle.' I was chanting to myself, trying to keep my cool. 'Why did I come to fill up my water bottle, it was already full.' One side of my brain asks. 'Because you knew that Sayid would be at the cave, doing something or other.' The other side of my brain answers.

'Rule 2: Catch his eye and give him a mysterious, but coy smile.' A voice says in my head, it's the voice of an old friend, well, she's not my friend any more, she stopped being my friend after I beat her at being Prom Queen, but still, she was the one that first told me those four important Rules of Love.

'Catch his eye and give him a mysterious, but coy smile.' Sayid's standing over to my left. I turn my head so that I can see if he's noticed me. He has, I stand up and go to give him the smile, but my foot slips on the wet rock edge around the pool of water, and I fall in. "Ahhhh!" I scream. Flip-flops don't have very good grips when it comes to slippery, wet rock. Luckily the water isn't to shallow, so when I belly flop I can put down my hands so I don't hit the rock bottom.

I stifle a curse and chance a glance over at Sayid to see if he saw that. He's doubled over with laughter. 'Yep, he saw that.' After he gets control of his laughter, he walks over to me. My cheeks are bright red.

"Wanted to take a bath, I see. Well, here's an idea, it might be easier to get clean, if you take the clothes off." He chuckles at his own wit.

"Ha, ha, very funny, but, you see, I wasn't trying to get myself clean, I was trying to clean my clothes, myself getting clean is just a plus." He chuckles at my wit, too. He's a chuckler. You know, some guys laugh, some smile, and some chuckle. He chuckles.

"As much as I respect the fact that you wish to have clean clothes, you need to get out of our drinking water."

"What are you trying to say? That I'm dirty?"

"I might be."

"Well, you're no cleaner then me."

"That is true, but I'm not the one that's contaminating our drinking water." He offers me his hand, I take it and he pulls me out. "Now go put on a dry pair of dirty clothes."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" And with a salute of my hand, I was off to go find a dry pair of clothes.

AN: Thank you for reading, PLEASE review!


	2. Rule 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost, or Sayid…sadly.

Summary: Shannon teaches us the 5 Rules of Love. Will only have 4 or 5 chapters.

AN: Thank You! To all that read and review.

Rule 3: When put in a vulnerable position, such as being injured, let him assist you in any way possible, this will make him feel helpful, and like he understands a little part of you, making him wish to have a stronger connection with you. CAUTION: Do not, in any way, make him feel as if he is not helping you (even if he isn't helping you), this will make him feel embarrassed and stupid, there by giving him a bruised ego (something that can be fatal to a man).

Chapter 2

Chop, chop, chop. It has been about an hour since the water incident, and I'm changed and dry. Dice, dice, dice. And, now, I'm chopping and dicing up plants, and herbs and such, while Sun is grinding the pieces into mush. This has become a common routine for us; we have an understanding, forgetting the language barrier.

About a week ago, Sayid and I had finally finished working on Rousseau's papers. We had found anything and everything there was to find, and there was nothing left to do. I had gotten so use to doing something all day long that kept me occupied, that when it was over, I got restless really fast. So I went for a walk down the beach, and to the cave, and back to the beach, and to the cave and… you're probably getting the point. Finally, I found Sun, sitting in the sand, chopping and grinding. I sat down next to her, picked up the knife and started chopping, and we've been doing this routine ever since, I chop, she grinds. In the morning she collects the plants to be chopped and ground, and in the afternoon I come and sit down and chop them up.

We don't talk at all, really, sometimes I talk about things on my mind, like how I have this little crush for Sayid, and how I will get over soon because it's just a crush and stuff, but she just keeps on working. Sometimes, I swear I see a slight smile cross her face for a second when I say something funny, or when I mention my crush. But it's usually a pretty silent process.

It's a little strange, since we don't have many tables and silverware and such from the crash, we use lots of rocks and wood. We don't have a table to use for everything, so I use a large flat rock, which, ironically looks like a table. It's big and rectangle shaped and is raised off the ground because it's on top of two smaller rocks, not too small, each is about half the size of the 'table.' Sun sits about five feet away with a rock that is around the size of both your hands, grinding whatever plant that is into mush. And when she's done, she gets up, puts that rock with mush on it somewhere in the jungle, goes and finds another rock to use and comes back to grind some more.

Anyway back to the present. So I'm chopping and dicing like normal, when Sun says something to me in Korean.

"What?'

She says it again.

"I'm sorry I don't understand what you're saying."

She gets the drift that I don't understand and starts pointing to herself and then to the jungle.

"Oh, you're going into the jungle. I get it." I point to her, then to the jungle, then to myself and make an OK sigh with my hand. She nods her head, and leaves. We have this conversation at least once a day, but for some reason I still don't get the gist of what she's trying to say right away.

I go back to chopping and dicing, but I quickly lose my focus and start to stare off into space, thinking about my crush on Sayid. 'Stupid school girl crush.' I scold myself. 'This is stupid, I need to get over this crush!' I start chopping the plant violently, hoping that maybe it will help me get over him. I am so caught up in demolishing the plant that I don't hear the approaching footsteps.

"You know, I don't think that's the best thing for the plant." I whip around, knife in hand, and point it at the unwanted visitor. "Alright, I take it back, you can do whatever you like to the plant." I relax and lower my hand.

"Don't scare me like that, Sayid! It's not very nice." I pout.

"I'm sorry, but I wasn't trying to scare you." He gives me one of those devilish smiles, with a hint of teasing in it, like he's saying 'ha, ha, I scared you.'

"Oh, shut up." I turn around and go back to chopping, he sits down next to me. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" Sarcasm, always the best defense when one is being teased.

"I just came by to see how you occupied your time now that we're not working on Danielle's papers." That's what he says, but what I think is 'Uh huh, right, there's always an ulterior motive with Sayid. Well, maybe not always, but when ever he comes to find me, he always wants me to translate something in French.' But I don't say anything about it.

"Well, here I am, chopping up plants."

"Yes, I can see that." I think he wants me to explain why I'm chopping plants, but I don't. 'Let him ask.' I think.

Chop, chop, chop. A minute or so passes in silence, before he speaks.

"Why are you chopping up plants."

"Because I needed to do something after we had finished up Rousseau's papers." I state.

"I see."

Chop, chop, chop. More silence. He's starring at me. I try to focus on the chopping, but it gets harder and harder the longer he continues to stare at me.

"Shannon." I look up at him, but keep my hands chopping. I don't want to give him my full focus, for fear that I might lose myself completely in his eyes.

Chop, chop, chop. He's not saying anything, just looking at my face. He's leaning in like he's going to kiss me…

"Shit!" I cry. "Damn it all to Hell!" I stand up and start stomping around. Sayid looks frightened.

"Shannon!" He stands up, comes over to me and grabs my shoulders to stop me from moving around. "What's the matter?"

"I cut my thumb." I whine. I had gotten so caught up with looking at Sayid, that I completely forgot that I had a knife in my hand, and when I went to go cut more of the plant, I got my thumb. 'Man does it sting.' Sayid looks like he's going to laugh. I brood. He has fun seeing me hurt myself, first falling in the water, and now this. 'Insensitive jerk.'

I lift my thumb to put the cut in my mouth, hoping that it will make it hurt less, but Sayid pulls my hand away.

"Doing that will just give the cut more germs." He reasons. He brings my hand towards his mouth, leaving a couple inches between his mouth and my hand. He blows a cool breath over the cut, like a parent would to do when a child is hurt. I say nothing, I'm mesmerized by his mouth.

The cut's not to bad, not deep enough to need stitches, but deep enough to bleed. It's not gushing blood, but the blood is slowly dripping down my arm, and it drips a little on Sayid's hand, but he doesn't notices.

"Doing that just gives it more germs, too." I'm referring to what he's doing. I opened my mouth. 'Why? Why? Why would I open my mouth and say that?' Sayid gently drops my hand.

"You are right, come, let's go get it cleaned off and bandaged." He declares. He looks disconcerted.

He turns and starts walking towards the jungle, and I have no alternative but to follow him.

AN: That's chapter number two, number 3's coming along quite nicely. So, it should be up soon! Thanks everyone! Bye!


	3. Rule 4

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost, or Sayid…sadly.

Summary: Shannon teaches us the 5 Rules of Love. Will only have 4 or 5 chapters.

AN: Thank You! To all that read and review.

Rule 4: Learn how to carry on a conversation. Be able to sound intelligent, but not too intelligent as to make him feel intimidated or inferior. Talk about stuff that interests him, whether it be current events or comic books and cars. NEVER talk about yourself, men do not like self-centered women. A COMMON MISCONCEPTION: Guys don't need attention. This statement is FALSE, guys need some attention, too, even the badass ones.

Chapter 3

I dip my hand into the fresh water spring and hiss when it makes my cut sting, I pull my hand back out and hold it to my chest, while sending a glare at the water. 'I don't want to put my hand in there, it hurts.' The child in me whines. 'Stop being a baby.' I scold the child.

'Sayid said to make sure to wash the cut thoroughly that way it won't get infected.' The Angel on my shoulder reminds me.

'Yeah, but he's not here right now, so he'll never know if you wash the cut or not.' The Devil on the other shoulder validates.

'You know, the Devil's got a point.' I remark to the Angel.

'Of course he does, but then you'll be lying to Sayid if you listen to him.' The Angel counters.

'Sayid's off trying to find some cloth to bandage the cut with. He'll never know that you lied.' The Devil argues.

Normally, I would have listen to what the Devil was saying, but for some reason, the thought of lying to Sayid makes my stomach hurt.

"I thought I told you to wash your hand." Sayid teases. The Angel and Devil go POOF!

"It hurts." I whimper.

"Well, of course it does. It's cleaning out the infection." And while saying this he grabs my hand and plunges it into the water.

"Sayid! That hurts." I wail.

"My, you are very whinny today. Did you get enough sleep last night?" He's teasing me some more.

"Yes." I pout.

"Well, then why are you whining?"

"Because my hand hurts." I grumble.

"Yes, I've heard that." He laughs.

"It's not funny."

"Whatever you say." He's still laughing! Jackass.

A couple minutes pass by, while Sayid cleans my cut. With the exception of the rushing water, an occasional chuckle from Sayid and my pouting, then is no other sound.

Sayid continues to clean my hand in the water, I'm starting to think that my hand will go pruney it's been in the water so long.

"Um… I think the cut's clean." I say softly.

Sayid jumps a little at my voice.

"Yes, I think it is, too." He coughs a little, and lets go of my hand.

I dry my hand off on my shirt. Sayid picks up a long, thin piece of cloth, takes my hand and starts to bandage the cut.

"Where did you learn how to chop up plants?" I think he's making fun of my skill to cut plants.

"Well, I didn't learn how to chop up plants, exactly."

"Oh?" He sounds interested.

"Our cook, well, she's not our cook anymore. But anyway, she taught me."

"And what's her name?"

"Vicky."

"Why'd she teach you?" His voice holds a sense of curiosity.

"I am probably one of the pickiest eaters you will ever meet," I explained, "so, when I was little, I would sneak into the kitchen before dinner and ask Vicky to make me a sandwich. That way, when I didn't eat dinner, because I didn't like what was being served, I wouldn't be hungry later. So, I would sit there and watch her make the rest of dinner, chopping up vegetables, cooking meat, so on and so forth. We would talk about nothing important, and slowly, over the years, she became something of a best friend to me. When I was around twelve she offer to teach me the 'proper way to slice veggies,' as she says, and after that, I helped her with dinner everyday, after I had my sandwich, of course."

"What happened to her?" He inquired. By this time Sayid has finished bandaging my hand, but he doesn't let go, and I don't pull away.

"One day, when I was about 16, my stepmother, Boone's mum, walked in to ask Vicky a question about the dinner and found me, wearing an apron, slicing up veggies. She was outraged that Vicky would give me work to do with my hands and fired her on the spot."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah, but it's ok, we talk on the phone sometimes now, I guess she got a job working in a restaurant owned by that chef on Food Network, Mario or something like that."

I laugh a little at the thought of what Vicky would do if she knew that I didn't know the name of a chef. Her voice would be high-pitched, and she'd most likely be threatening me with a wooden spoon covered in spaghetti sauce.

Sayid's starring at me again. I think of anything and everything to distract me from thinking about the way Sayid's looking at me. I can feel a blush running over my cheeks. 'Think, Shannon, think.'

'Oh my God! I just violated Rule 4: 'NEVER talk about yourself, men do not like self-centered women.' Ok, so, it's not the most substantial topic to keep me occupied, but it'll do the job.

'Eh, it's Sayid, it's not like I'm planning on going any farther with him then just as friends. And the Rules are to be used only when your trying to get the guy to want you.' For some reason the thought of never being with Sayid pulls at something in my chest, but I but I push the feeling away.

'Think of something to talk about, ask him something!' I scream at my brain.

Promptly I remember that Sayid never told me why he came to see me earlier, when I was slicing up plants.

"Why did you come to see?"

"When?" He furrows his brow.

"Just now, when I was cutting up the plants."

"Oh…" he seemed to be searching for an answer, "no reason, just came by to see if you had dried off." He smiles a little. He's turned his answer into a joke.

'Your not getting off that easily.' I comment to myself.

"Liar, you always need me to translate something when you come to see me, so what do you have for me to translate." I jest, but there's disappointment in his eyes, like he's hurt by the fact that I don't think that he just likes to come and see me.

"No, I have nothing for you to translate."

At that moment, Sayid looks down and realizes that he's still holding my hand. He automatically pulls it away as if it's been burnt. My hand grows cold immediately. He stands up, and looks like he's ready to bolt.

"Well, your hand is bandaged, I better go help Jack do something, bye."

He doesn't even wait for me to say good-bye before he high-tails it out of there.

"Yeah, bye." I say out loud, but no one is there to here me. 'I think I'll go pick some fruit…'

AN: I have the last chapter finished, it just needs to be edited, this story ended so soon! So sad, tear. Anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter! THANK YOU to everyone the reviewed the last two chapters, each one made my day! Bye!


	4. Rule 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost, or Sayid…sadly.

Summary: Shannon teaches us the 6 Rules of Love.

AN: Thank You! To all that read and review. This was going to be the last chapter, but it's NOT!

Chapter 4

Lesson 5: When a man offers you help, take it. Men have what I like to call the "Knight in Shining Armor Complex" or the "Hero" complex. They like the Damsel in Distress, they like to feel helpful and important.

"Ah… What are you doing?" Hurley.

"Picking fruit." I state. 'What does it look like I'm doing.' I think.

"Why?"

'Why the Hell not?' I bite-back, and say instead "Well, it's been about a month since we crashed, and it's pretty obvious no one is coming to get us, so I decided to start helping out."

"Ok, cool, well, try not to pick too much passion fruit, because we have tons of it back at camp, we don't need anymore. You do know what Passion Fruit is, right?"

"Of course, I know what Passion Fruit is." I answer, but what I mean to say is 'What the Hell is a Passion Fruit?'

"Alright, see ya."

"Yeah, bye," I holler after him, while muttering under my breath, "you Passion Fruit Nazi."

"I heard that!"

"Sorry!" Damn, what, does he have super sensitive hearing or something?

A couple minutes pass in silence, with just me picking fruit and thinking about general stuff. Ok, well, maybe not general-general stuff, but not about anybody in particular… Alright, so I'm thinking about Sayid, big deal. It's not like I'm thinking that I wish that we could be more than just friends or anything, I'm just thinking general stuff, you know, like how much I love his eyes, his smile… his hair, how much I love him.

My hand stops half way to picking a fruit. How much I LOVE him? There must be something in the water, because I can't be in love with Sayid, he's too good for me… and besides I've only know him for a month, love can't grow that fast can it? Somewhere in the back of my brain the word DENIAL keeps repeating itself.

All of a sudden my father's voice echo's in my head. And I remember a conversation that we had when I was about 8 years old, when I had asked him why he was marrying Boone's mom, and he had answered "Because I love her."

"But how do you know it's love?" I had questioned him.

"Well, sweetheart, it's hard to explain, but I fell in love with her at first sight, just like in your fairy tales." And he did love her, even after everything she did, he loved her until he died, maybe he still loves her today, wherever he is.

Yes, but that had been my dad, this is me, and I can't be in love with Sayid. DENIAL, DENIAL, DENIAL. Sure, I like the way he laughs, and how he sometimes hums while working on math equations…DENIAL, DENIAL, DENIAL. I like how he seems to actually enjoy spending time with me, and the way his hand feels in mine… DENIAL, DENIAL, DENIAL. And I like how I smile just thinking about him, and the way he makes me feel… But that's not love, that's a schoolgirl crush, just a schoolgirl crush…

Something in my chest tightens up and I start to have trouble breathing. I have been in love with Sayid since the first time I met him, I've just been to stupid to realize it until now.

"I'm… in love… with… Sayid." I gasp out.

I let out a little laugh, then started laughing a little harder, soon I'm laughing so hard that I need to lean against a tree for support. I can't stop laughing.

'Oh my God, I'm either having a panic attack, or I've finally lost my mind.' I laugh for a full ten minutes before I can check myself.

"Why am I laughing?" I ask the trees, thankfully, they don't answer the question. If they did, I would seriously think there is something wrong with my head.

The metaphorical light bulb turns on in my head, as I realize that I've never been this happy before in my life.

'Why?' I wonder.

'It's Sayid.' The Angel states. They're back, the Angel and Devil.

'I gotta agree with good ol' wings over there.' The Devil declares while jerking his thumb at the Angel. The Angel in return, pulls a face.

'Are you saying that Sayid's the reason why I was laughing like a maniac before?' I bark at the both of them. The Devil rolls his eyes, and the Angel lets out a heavy sigh.

'Yes, knowing you're in love can make people act strangely.'

'Trust me, you don't even want to know what one guy did when he realize that he was in love. Let's just say it had to do with a dog, a water gun and tear gas.' Mumbles the Devil.

'There has to be another reason besides the 'in love' reason.' I glare at both of them.

'Your in love, no other reason besides that.' The Angel says all knowingly. I open my mouth to deny this fact, when they both go POOF! Again.

"Hurley tells me you are picking fruit." I whip around to face the owner of the voice. Sayid, of course. How do I act, how do I ACT? Keep cool, keep cool.

"Yes, I am." My voice comes out cold. He notices, but doesn't say anything about it.

"And he also says that you called him a 'Passion Fruit Nazi.'"

"I did that, also." My voice is still as cold as ice.

"Well, I came to see if I could help."

"What, you hear that I'm doing something productive and think that I don't know what to do?" I'm jumping to conclusions, I know, but how do you act around the man you love?

"Actually, I thought you would be fine picking fruit, until Hurley told me that all the fruit you were picking wasn't ripe, yet." He starts laughing, slowly at first, but soon it becomes full-fledged laughter. He's laughing at me! I don't find this amusing at all, so I glare at him. He sees the glare and stops laughing, with some difficulty though.

"Are you all right? You seem kind of… tense."

"I'm fine." I mumble.

"So, why aren't you chopping up plants with Sun?" There's something teasing in his voice, probably remember what happened last time I held a knife.

"I got restless, I needed to do something different."

"Oh, I see, so you decided to pick fruits that no one could eat?" Is that mockery I hear in his voice?

"Well, I didn't realize that they weren't ripe." I start pouting.

"Don't worry about it. Here I'll show you how to tell if they're ripe or not, and besides, they'll become ripe someday."

Normally I would take his help, but I've already made myself enough of an idiot in front of him for one day.

"No, I don't need your help." I turn around to stalk off, but he starts laughing again. "What's so funny, now?" I had planned to ask this with an air of superiority, but my voice comes out as a whine, which just makes him laugh harder.

He's laughing so hard that he can't talk, but he's pointing to his head and then gesturing to a tree above me. I look above me and see that a vine has gotten caught in my hair. I circle in place trying to untangle myself from it, but surprise, surprise, doing that just gets it more tangled. I start to get dizzy from circling so much, causing me to trip over a root and land on my butt.

"Ow!" I yelp. Sayid sobers up, comes over and bends down next to me.

"Shannon, are you ok?"

"I'm fine." I sound like a wounded dog.

Sayid reaches over and untangles my hair from the vine.

"Thanks." I don't sound nice saying this, it comes out as a growl.

"Come on," he says, while offering me his hand, "let's teach you how to pick fruit properly." Without taking his hand, I stand up.

"No, I don't need your help." I inwardly blanch, when this sentence comes out of my mouth, there's a sense of disgust in my voice. A pained expression crosses his face. The stare of his eyes burn me.

"Shannon, I'm not trying to degrade you by helping you out." He states softly. I know this, but he needs to get away from me. I need to clear my head.

"I don't care what you're trying to do, I don't need your help." I practically yell. I'm so close to tears, I can see the hurt in his eyes and it's killing me. I turn my back to him so he doesn't see the tears.

"Very well, " he says this so softly I almost can't here him, "I will leave you alone." He turns around and starts walking away. But he stops after he walks a couple feet.

"Just don't pick the green colored fruit, those aren't ripe." I thought he was done speaking after this, but he continues, "You know, Shannon, you don't have to push me away just because we're becoming friends."

If he was hoping for a reaction, he doesn't get one, I completely ignore what he says, I don't even acknowledge that he's still there, and go back to picking fruit, expect this time, I'm not picking the green ones.

He turns around and walks back to camp.

Pushing away? I'm not pushing him away; I like to call it keeping him at a distance…

AN: Sorry about the delay, Mid-terms. This was suppose to be the last chapter, but I didn't want to end it just yet…THANK YOU to everybody that reviewed the last chapter! Another chapter coming up!


	5. Rule 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Lost, or Sayid…sadly.

Summary: Shannon teaches us the 6 Rules of Love. COMPLETE.

AN: Thank You! To all that read and review.

xxxxx

Rule 6: If you find that you have strong feelings for a man, do not try to push him away, you want the man to return your feelings, and being bitch won't make him do that. Be cool, confident, hip.

xxxxx

Hurley, where the hell is Hurley, dammit? Not at the beach. Not at the caves. Where the hell else is there to go on this god-forsaken spit of land?

Oh, no, he's at the golf course. Why? Why? Why do men like golfing so much, it is so boring. I wonder if Sayid golfs? No, no, we're not thinking about him.

I don't want to hike all the way up there with all this fruit, just so I can ask the Passion Fruit Nazi where to put it all.

'Grrrrrr, fine you know what?' I bitch, 'I'll just leave all this friggin' fruit here at the caves, it's not my fault he's not here to ask where to put the stuff.' I throw the bag of fruit down by a rock, and turn around to stalk off.

"You know, we don't usually leave the fruit there."

'Oh, shut up Sayid, I don't want to talk to you right now, I'm mad at you, I just HAD to fall in love with you and make everything complicated. So, leave me alone.' I grumble inside my head.

"I know you don't leave the fruit there," I bite out, "I'm going to find Hurley to ask him where to put it." Be nice, Shannon, be nice.

"He's at the golf course." Thank you smart-ass Sayid.

"I figured as much." Be nice.

"Well, do you realize that you're going in the wrong direction?" Shit, of course I'm going in the wrong direction, I was headed towards the beach before he showed up. Quick, think of something smart to say.

"No, I'm not." I said smart, dammit, not childish!

"Yes, you are." He's smiling, because he knows he's right.

"No, I'm not." I'm pouting.

"If you take the path that you're taking it, it will lead you to the beach, and to get to the golf course from the beach you have to come back here. So you would just do twice as much walking to get to the same point," he says all of the while pointing in random directions.

"…" I can't think of anything to say, because he's right, of course. I need to say something; he's looking at me like I've lost my brain.

"Nuh-uh." I meant to say something smart, dammit!

"So, you think your ways quicker?"

"Yeah-huh." I should just stop fighting the stupidity that is me.

"You want to prove that?" I'm walking into a trap, I know it. "You take your way, to the beach and back and then to the golf course, and I'll take my path, JUST to the golf course." I'm getting the slightest hint of mockery in his voice. "Who ever gets there first wins."

"What do I get if I win?"

"You decide." He knows I'm not going to win, I know I'm not going to win.

"What do you get if you win?"

"What do you think I should get?" Oh, he's just being sneaky, trying to rub it in my face.

"Um… how about I fetch your water for a week?"

"No, we saw what happened last time you tried to get water."

"That was an accident!"

"Still." His eyes have this teasing twinkle in them, like he's having fun watching me squirm.

"How about I pick your fruit for the week?"

"That's no good either, I like having fruit that I can eat." Oh, now that's just mean.

"Thanks for the confidence." He flashes me this tantalizing smile.

"Any time." Oh,he doesn't know how lucky he is, if I wasn't in love with him, I'd slap him.

"I could cut up some seasonings for your fish or boar."

"What, and get them all bloody from when you cut off your finger?" Now that's just hitting below the belt.

"That was a one time accident."

"Yes, but it could happen again." I think he's trying to be wise. But to me, he's just being a smart-ass. Which means the same thing, but mine just sounds meaner.

"Well then, what do you want if you win?"

"I'll tell you after I win." Talk about cryptic. Weirdo.

"If you win." I flash him a smile that says something along the lines of 'You don't scare me.' I know he's going to win, but I still have to act confident that I'm going to win.

"Alright then, I'll see you soon." And he takes off in the direction of the golf course.

"Hey, no fair, head start!" I yell after him, but start running towards the beach.

Halfway there I stop, realizing that I'm running for no reason, I know that I'm not going to get there first, so why am I trying?' I know that I can't beat him, so, I turn around and run back to the caves. When I get back to the caves, he's standing there, chugging water from a water bottle. He's a fast runner if he got there and back again before I did, when I cheated.

"Oh, you're back sooner than I expected." He comments.

"Yeah, well, I'm a fast runner." I'm breathing heavily.

"Really, or did you just turn around halfway there and come back?" My face reddens when I'm caught red handing cheating.

"Yeah, well, that was an unfair race." My breathing isn't calming down. Sayid looks worried.

"Perhaps we shouldn't have race, I should have realized that your asthma would act up, why don't we sit down." He puts his hand on the small of my back and starts to lead me over to a rock to sit on.

"No, it's fine, my asthma only gets real bad when I panic, it will pass in a little bit."

"But still-" Sayid tries to object, but I interrupt.

"Sayid, trust me, I know what I'm doing," He still looks worried. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go ask Hurley a question." I turn around and start walking towards the golf course, hoping that he'll stay at the caves and let me continue on pushing him away. But, of course, he's a man, and men never do what you want them to do.

"I'll walk with you." I can't do anything but mumble a small 'ok' and start walking towards the golf course with him.

Silence. To the untrained eye, the silence may seem comfortable, relaxed even, but for me, the silence gives me time to think and panic, 'Should I tell him, should I tell him that I'm in love?' 'I'll tell him if the moment's right.' I think to calm myself. I need to break the silence; otherwise I might do something stupid, like admit my feelings.

"Do you golf?" Right, like that wasn't stupid. Sayid jumps a little at my question, like he was lost in his own train of thought.

"I'm sorry?"

"Do you golf?" I say it slower this time, pausing for a second in between each word. Sayid seems to smile at the fact that I'm treating him like an idiot. Weird.

"I'm not stupid, Shannon."

"Really, you could have fooled me." I tease, and flash him my most wise-ass smile. Sayid laughs a little, and we go back to silence.

"No." I jump at the sound of his voice this time. 'No? No what?' I am so confused.

"What?" I question.

"No, I don't golf." This time, he's treating me like the idiot, saying each and every word slowly and overly pronouncing them.

I move to push him into a nearby tree for teasing me, but he's quicker than that, and he moves out of my way, which causes me to start falling, I make a grab for the closest thing to keep me from falling, which just happens to be Sayid. I grab his shirt, but I catch him off guard, and he falls with me. He lands on his side, while I've landed on my ass (go figure). But we're both laughing, so, I don't think he caught the embarrassing concept of me falling on my ass.

I'm forgetting to push him away.

After a minute or two the laughing stops. Our eyes connect, and I get the over-whelming urge to say 'I Love You.' Is this it? Is this the moment? I open my mouth to say something, I don't know what. Sayid picks this moment to look down.

"You're bleeding." Ok, so, that apparently was not the moment.

"What?"

"Your leg, it's bleeding."

'Of course it's bleeding.' I look at my leg, it's just a little scrap, hardly any blood, and it doesn't even hurt. "It's just a scrap, Sayid, nothing to worry about." I stand up and continue walking toward the golf course. I'm pushing him away again. Sayid seems to sense my change in mood, because he shuts up about the leg.

We're walking in silence once again. It's driving me insane. So, in exchange for silence, I start humming. It's a tune I can't place, but I know, I know it from somewhere. I pick up a stick and start swinging it around to keep my mind occupied.

"What's that?" Me, in all my stupidity mistake the direction of Sayid's question.

"It's called a stick, Sayid, it comes from the trees. You know, those big things with leaves." He smiles a little at my smart-ass response.

"No, what is that tune that you were humming?" Ah, now the question makes more sense.

"Oh, the tune… um…" we have reach the edge of the golf course by now, why'd I need to talk to Hurley again? "It's called…" Hurley's swinging a golf club, we stop short of the course so as not to get hit, "…um…" Sayid's facing me now, God, I love his eyes, "the tune is called…" I have an idea, maybe I can tell him I love him, without actually telling him. I turn myself to completely face him, and I look into his eyes, "'It Had To Be You.'" Do you think Sayid's smart enough to realize that maybe I'm talking about him?

"How does it go?" Nope, I don't think he realizes that I'm talking about him. To sing, or not to sing. I'll sing.

"Why do I do, just as you say" I'm trying to send a message to Sayid through my eyes, but I don't think he understands. "Why must I just, give you your way," maybe I'm not good at saying something with my eyes. "Why do I sigh, why don't I try - to forget" or maybe Sayid just can't read eyes. That's it, Sayid's just to stupid.

"Fore!" I look up to see this golf ball flying towards us.

"Ahhh!" I throw my hands over my head and crouch to the ground. I don't think Sayid even flinched. The golf ball lands about a foot away from me. I pick it up and shake my fist.

"What are you trying to do? Kill me!" I scream at Hurley. He and two other guys are laughing.

"Sor- ha ha -ry!" Hurley waves his hand in the air and then gives high fives to the two other guys. Sayid takes the golf ball out of my hand and throws it towards Hurley, but his aim isn't all that great.

"Scott! Steve! Watch out!" Sayid yells. Who the Hell are Scott and Steve?

Is it me, or am I the only one not amused by the fact that a Kamikaze golf ball just tried to kill me? Even Sayid's laughing!

'Grrr. Fine, I don't have to take this abuse.' Yes, I know I'm being unreasonable, but I've had it just about up to here with all the embarrassing things that have happened to me in one day! And all in front of Sayid, of course!

I turn around and start walking back to camp.

"Hey," Sayid yells after me, "don't you have to ask Hurley a question?"

"Ask him yourself!" I don't even look back as I yell this.

After stomping at high speed for a minute, I slow down, and just breath.

'What the hell is wrong with me?' I ask myself. 'I need to find a cliff to walk off of or something, because this is just ridiculous, I must be going insane!' All of a sudden, I get hit in the head (metaphorically) with a little tiny detail that I forgot.

I turn around, and stomp my way through the jungle, back to the golf course to ask Sayid about that little tiny detail. But I meet Sayid half way there, coming back from the golf course.

"There you are, why'd you walk away so suddenly?" For some reason Sayid actually sounds worried, like something would have happened to me, being out here in the jungle, alone.

"Why do you care? Thought I'd get eaten by a polar bear?" I'm joking, but Sayid doesn't seem to think it's funny.

"That's not something you should joke about, Shannon, you could get seriously injured being out here by yourself, anybody could get seriously injured."

"What? And having Kamikaze golf balls being thrown at you, no that's not dangerous at all." The sarcasm is dripping from my voice. "Don't worry, I think I've had my share of bad luck for one day, so I don't think I'll be seeing any polar bears any time soon. Besides, you can't avoid the polar bears, you can avoid the Kamikaze golf balls, though." Sayid smiles a little, but doesn't let me off that easily.

"It doesn't matter, Shannon, you still shouldn't be so careless."

"Thanks for the support, Sayid." I was about to turn around and walk away from him, when I remember the question I needed to ask him.

"I'm not trying to treat you like a child, we all need to be less careless." Sayid offers.

"Tell you what, Sayid, the day you start being more careful, is the day that I'll start being more careful, also." That might not have been the best thing to say, it shows that I care for what he does. Dammit. So much for pushing him away.

"Alright, I promise to be more careful." Sayid chuckles a little.

"Good, me too." Even though I don't really mean it. We start heading back to camp and are silent for a minute. "You lied to me." Now I can ask him.

"Lied to you about what?"

"Well, you didn't exactly lie to me, but you didn't tell me, either." I'm trying to be cryptic, just to drive him insane.

"Oh really, and what, pray-tell, did I not tell you?"

"That you knew where to put the fruit."

"Well, you never asked."

"Still, you made me race, and then walk all this way, when you knew from the beginning where I needed to put it. Why?" Sayid's silent for a moment.

"You never finished your song."

"Don't change the subject, Sayid. Why'd you make me do all that walking?"

"Why don't you finish your song." Now this is just getting childish.

"How 'bout you tell me why, and then I'll finish my song."

"I won the race."

"Yeah, so?"

"So, I get to pick something I want, and I want you to finish your song." Why can't he just answer the question?

"No, I'm not going to finish the song 'til you answer the question."

"But that's not following the rules." Sayid seems desperate not to answer the question.

"What do I care about the rules."

"Please, Shannon, just finish the song." His eyes are pleading with me to agree.

"Fine. I'll finish the song."

"Thank you." I turn my eyes on him and start singing.

"It must have been, that something lovers call fate, kept me saying: "I have to wait."" I'm silently telling him the feelings that I hope beyond hope he returns. "I saw them all, just couldn't fall - 'til we met" I stop singing.

"Why'd you stop?" He seems disappointed.

"I want you to tell me why we had to walk all the way to the golf course, when you knew what to do." Sayid's mood alters as I try again to get an answer.

"Shannon, I thought we had a deal."

"Yes, well, I want answers."

"Shannon, it's not important."

"Then why won't you tell me?"

Sayid stutters for a while before saying, "Fine, I'll tell you a bit, but then you have to finish the song."

"Fine, I can handle a little bit of information."

"I… just…" he can't seem to find the right wording, "I wanted to… talk to you."

"About what?"

"Why you seem to be pushing me away all of a sudden. Did Hurley say something about me that made you feel differently towards me back in the jungle?"

"No, Hurley didn't say anything. What would he say that would make me act differently towards you?"

"It doesn't matter, Hurley has a big mouth, that's all."

"Oh."

"If Hurley didn't say anything, then why are you pushing me away?" Wait a minute, not fair, this was suppose to be an interrogation of Sayid, not Shannon, how'd the roles switch so fast?

"So, you're saying that you made me do all that work, just so you could talk to me? How very selfish of you Sayid." I razz him. But Sayid now won't let his question drop.

"Why, Shannon?"

"Do you want me to finish the song?" I'm desperate for anything to distract him. Where are the polar bears when you need them?

"I want you to answer the question."

"You're gonna have to pick, because you can't have both."

"Just answer the question."

"Oh, look! A polar bear!" I point to something above his head and make a faux face of horror.

Sayid barely acknowledges that fact that I just claimed a polar bear was behind him.

"Why?"

"You know, someday, there might actually be a polar bear behind you, and if you don't listen, you're gonna get eaten."

"Why, Shannon?" Sayid reaches out to grab my arm, to try and make me stop walking, but I dodge out of the way, and keep walking.

"Shannon," I think his voice is close to coming out as a growl.

'Stop fighting it, and face the music.' I insist to myself. So, I start singing.

"It had to be you, it had to be you," next to me, Sayid's claiming that he ask for an answer, not a song. "I wandered around, and finally found - the somebody who-"

"Shannon, just answer the question!"

"Could make me be true, and could make me be blue, and even be glad, just to be sad - thinking of you." Sayid grabs my arm, and whips me around to face him.

"Answer the question, Shannon!"

"I am, Sayid."

"No, you're not, you're singing a song!" Man, is he frustrated.

"Are you listening to the song, Sayid?" I am so nervous, I can't go back, now, I'm admitting my feelings.

Sayid stops and thinks for a second. My heartbeat pounds in my chest as I wait for him to put the pieces together.

He's quiet; maybe he really is stupid. I start singing the last of the song under my breath.

"Some others I've seen, might never be mean, might never be cross, or try to be boss," Sayid looks down to the ground, thinking. "But they wouldn't do," he raises his eyes to my face, "for nobody else, gave me a thrill - with all your faults, I love you still," disbelief flashes across his eyes, I try to send him a message with my eyes, "it had to be you, wonderful you." A small smile starts to show as I sing the last line, "it had to be you."

We're both quiet for a minute before Sayid takes my hand and speaks up.

"Ah, so, that's why you were pushing me away. I don't quite understand, but if it makes you feel any better, I thought you were being mean, because Hurley had told you that I had feelings for you, and you didn't return those feelings."

"Actually, you're right, I'm not in love with you," I'm saying this with a smile, so Sayid isn't taking me seriously, "I'm just enamored, attached, lovesick, hooked, enraptured, bewitched, infatuated, keen." I take his other hand in mine, " Or in other words, I'm nuts about you."

"I'm glad to hear it." Sayid leans in to kiss me, I lean forward, also.

"Aww, stop being so lovey-dovey already." Hurley. Damn, why don't those Kamikaze golf balls ever try to hit him?

Sayid pulls away to give Hurley a look, while I yell, "Go to Hell, Hurley!" Sayid and I lean in, to try this kissing thing again.

"Hey Sayid." It's those other two, Scott and Steve. Sayid groans a little as he turns he head to face them.

"Hey Scott, hey Steve." Who the Hell are Scott and Steve? I turn my head to look at them, also.

"Who the Hell are you guys?" I ask.

"Well, I'm Scott…" one guy says.

"…And I'm Steve." The other one says.

"Right…" that doesn't really help me all that much.

"Don't let us bother you, we're just going back to camp, Steve here, just beat both of us for some reading material." Hurley says as he, Scott, and Steve head down the path, walking passed us and out of sight.

Sayid and I lean forward to try this kissing thing one last time. This time there are no interruptions, and we share our first kiss. It's a wonderful kiss, unlike any thing I have ever experienced, Sayid seems to feel the same way, because when we pull back, he has the biggest and brightest smile I have ever seen plastered on his face. I can't help but laugh at it.

Sayid takes my hand, intertwining my fingers with his says, "shall we?" and he points down the path.

"Yes, we shall." And we start walking back to camp.

When we get there, Jack, Kate, Hurley, Walt (with Vincent), Charlie, and Sun are sitting around whispering about something. When they see Sayid and me, they break into loud applause, even Sun, who doesn't understand English seems to know that Sayid and I are finally together, Vincent lets out a couple barks of joy, also.

"Finally, we've been waiting for you guys to get together forever. Now, we can have a reason to party." Charlie declares. I can't help but giggle.

Sayid and I sit down and join the circle, we spend the rest of the day talking and joking, and I never once let go of Sayid's hand.

At nighttime, when everyone's headed to bed, Sayid leans in for a goodnight kiss. I give him my cheek.

"What was that for?" Sayid laughs.

"I've had a very hard day, and you made me walk all over the island, just to get to the golf course, you don't deserve a kiss." I tease.

"That's true, but I bandaged up your hand."

"So? It was just a cut."

"And I put your fruit in the right place."

"What? You lie."

"No, I don't. When you thought I was running towards the golf course, I really just ran out of sight and then came back, and put the fruit in the right place."

I hit him on the shoulder.

"You cheater."

"Cheater I may be, but I won you, so obviously I'm doing something right."

"You didn't win me. I chose to fall in love with you."

"Exactly, now, give me a kiss."

"No, you'll just have to wait 'til tomorrow." I turn around and start walking towards my "sleeping quarters."

"But what if I die before tomorrow?" Sayid calls after me.

"You'll just have to make sure you don't."

"I don't think so." Sayid runs over to me, grabs my arms, holding them so I can't push him away (not that I would try), smiles a little, and gives me a quick kiss on the lips. "See, I knew you couldn't resist my charms." I elbow him a little in the rib cage, even though it doesn't seem to faze him.

"What charm?" I tantalize. I turn back around and head towards my "sleeping quarters," this time Sayid doesn't follow, instead he heads towards his own bed. But I can hear him humming a tune, and I look behind me just in time to see him do a little skip step. I start singing along to his humming.

"It had to be you,

It had to be you

I wandered around,

And finally found –

The somebody who

Could make me be true,

Could make me be blue"

xxxxx

Epilogue

These are the 6 Rules to Love; I cannot help you beyond the advice that has been given to you in these last five chapters.

Rule 1: Follow each rule! Following each rule is vital in your journey to getting the man you want.

Amendment 1 (This is an amendment to Rule 1): Do whatever the Hell you like, just don't follow to the Rules anymore, they bring you no good.

AN: It's over, so sad, tear. Well, I hope everyone liked it, I know I enjoyed writing it! A great, big THANK YOU to all that reviewed, I can't tell you how happy each and every one made me, and I can't thank you all enough. THANK YOU!


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